The Complete Poems: Second Edition

Paperback | August 25, 1977

Keats's first volume of poems, published in 1817, demonstrated both his belief in the consummate power of poetry and his liberal views. While he was criticized by many for his politics, his immediate circle of friends and family immediately recognized his genius. In his short life he proved to be one of the greatest and most original thinkers of the second generation of Romantic poets, with such poems as 'Ode to a Nightingale', 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' and 'La Belle Dame sans Merci'. While his writing is illuminated by his exaltation of the imagination and abounds with sensuous descriptions of nature's beauty, it also explores profound philosophical questions.

John Barnard's acclaimed volume contains all the poems known to have been written by Keats, arranged by date of composition. The texts are lightly modernized and are complemented by extensive notes, a comprehensive introduction, an index of classical names, selected extracts from Keats's letters and a number of pieces not widely available, including his annotations to Milton's Paradise Lost.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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In light of modern poetry, Romantic poetry often seems naive and trite - or so many analysts would have readers believe. While many Romantics have been undercut by this searing criticism, John Keats' work has stood up to this barrage. Now readers get a chance to evaluate all of the British poet's work, along with useful commentaries an...

From the Publisher

The complete poems of an English masterKeats's first volume of poems, published in 1817, demonstrated both his belief in the consummate power of poetry and his liberal views. While he was criticized by many for his politics, his immediate circle of friends and family immediately recognized his genius. In his short life he proved to be ...

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‘I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart’s affections and the truth of Imagination’Keats’s first volume of poems, published in 1817, demonstrated both his belief in the consummate power of poetry and his liberal views. While he was criticized by many for his politics, his immediate circle of friends and family immediate...

John Keats (1795-1821) is one of the greatest English poets and a key figure in the Romantic Movement. He has become the epitome of the young, beautiful, doomed poet. He wrote, among others, 'The Eve of St Agnes', 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci', 'Ode to a Nightingale' and 'To Autumn'. The group of five odes, which include 'Ode to a Nightin...

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Table of Contents

The Complete PoemsIntroductionNote to the Third EditionAcknowledgmentsTable of DatesFurther Reading

Imitation of SpenserOn Peace"Fill for me a brimming bowl"To Lord Byron"As from the darkening gloom a silver dove""Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream"To ChattertonWritten on the Day that Mr. Leigh Hunt left PrisonTo HopeOde to Apollo ("In thy western halls of gold")Lines Written on 29 May The Anniversary of the Restoration of Charles the 2ndTo Some LadiesOn Receiving a Curious Shell, and a Copy of Verses, from the Same LadiesTo EmmaSong ("Stay, ruby-breasted warbler, stay")"Woman! when I behold thee flippant, vain""O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell"To George Felton MathewTo [Mary Frogley]To -- ("Had I a man's fair form, then might my sighs")"Give me Women, Wine, and Snuff"Specimen of an Induction to a PoemCalidore. A Fragment"To one who has been long in city pent""O! how I love, on a fair summer's eve"To a Friend who Sent me some RosesTo my Brother George ("Many the wonders I this day have seen")To Charles Cowden Clarke"How many bards gild the lapses of time!"On First Looking into Chapman's HomerTo a Young Lady who sent me a Laurel CrownOn Leaving some Friends at an Early Hour"Keen, fitful gusts are whispering here and there"Addressed to HaydonTo my BrothersAddressed to [Haydon]"I stood tip-toe upon a little hill"Sleep and PoetryWritten in Disgust of Vulgar SuperstitionOn the Grasshopper and CricketTo KosciuskoTo G[eorgiana] A[ugusta] W[ylie]"Happy is England! I could be content""After dark vapours have oppressed our plains"To Leigh Hunt, Esq.Written on a Blank Space at the End of Chaucer's Tale of The Floure and the LeafeOn Receiving a Laurel Crown from Leigh HuntTo the Ladies who Saw Me CrownedOde to Apollo ("God of the golden bow")On Seeing the Elgin MarblesTo B. R. Haydon, with a Sonnet Written on Seeing the Elgin MarblesOn The Story of RiminiOn a Leander Gem which Miss Reynolds, my Kind Friend, Gave MeOn the SeaLines ("Unfelt, unheard, unseen")Stanzas ("You say you love; but with a voice")"Hither, hither, love -"Lines Rhymed in a Letter Received (by J. H. Reynolds) From Oxford"Think not of it, sweet one, so - "Endymion: A Poetic Romance"In drear-nighted December"Nebuchadnezzar's DreamApollo to the GracesTo Mrs. Reynolds's CatOn Seeing a Lock of Milton's Hair. OdeOn Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again"When I have fears that I may cease to be""O blush not so! O blush not so!""Hence Burgundy, Claret, and Port""God of the meridian"Robin HoodLines on the Mermaid TavernTo - ("Time's sea hath been five years at its slow ebb")To the Nile"Spenser! a jealous honourer of thine""Blue! 'Tis the life of heaven, the domain""O thou whose face hath felt the Winter's wind"Sonnet to A[ubrey] G[eorge] S[pencer]

Extracts from an Operai. "O! were I one of the Olympian twelve"ii. Daisy's Songiii. Folly's Songiv. "O, I am frightened with most hateful thoughts"v. Song ("The stranger lighted from his steed")vi. "Asleep! O sleep a little while, white pearl!"

The Human Seasons"For there's Bishop's Teign""Where be ye going, you Devon maid?""Over the hill and over the dale"To J. H. Reynolds, Esq.To J[ames] R[ice]Isabella; or, The Pot of BasilTo HomerOde to May. FragmentAcrostic"Sweet, sweet is the greeting of eyes"On Visiting the Tomb of Burns"Old Meg she was a gipsy"A Song about Myself"Ah! ken ye what I met the day"To Ailsa Rock"This mortal body of a thousand days""All gentle folks who owe a grudge""Of late two dainties were before me placed"Lines Written in the Highlands after a Visit to Burns's CountryOn Visiting Staffa"Read me a lesson, Muse, and speak it loud""Upon my life, Sir Nevis, I am piqued"Stanzas on some Skulls in Beauly Abbey, near InvernessTranslated from Ronsard"'Tis 'the witching time of night'""Welcome joy, and welcome sorrow"Song ("Spirit that here reignest")"Where's the Poet? Show him, show him"Fragment of the "Castle Builder""And what is love? It is a doll dressed up"Hyperion. A FragmentFancyOde ("Bards of Passion and of Mirth")Song ("I had a dove and the sweet dove died")Song ("Hush, hush! tread softly! hush, hush my dear!")The Eve of St. AgnesThe Eve of St. Mark"Gif ye wol stonden hardie wight""Why did I laugh tonight?"Faery Bird's Song ("Shed no tear - O, shed no tear!")Faery Song ("Ah! woe is me! poor silver-wing!")"When they were come unto the Faery's Court""The House of Mourning written by Mr. Scott"Character of Charles BrownA Dream, after reading Dante's Episode of Paolo and FrancescaLa Belle Dame Sans Merci. A BalladSong of Four FaeriesTo Sleep"If by dull rhymes our English must be chained"Ode to PsycheOn Fame (I) ("Fame, like a wayward girl, will still be coy")On Fame (II) ("How fevered is the man who cannot look")"Two or three posies"Ode on a Grecian UrnOde to a NightingaleOde on MelancholyOde on IndolenceOtho the Great. A Tragedy in Five ActsLamia"Pensive they sit, and roll their languid eyes"To AutumnThe Fall of Hyperion. A Dream"The day is gone, and all its sweets are gone""What can I do to drive away""I cry your mercy, pity, love - ay, love""Bright star! would I were as steadfast as thou art"King Stephen. A Fragment of a Tragedy"This living hand, now warm and capable"The Cap and Bells; or, The JealousiesTo Fanny"In after-time, a sage of mickle lore"Three Undated Fragments

Doubtful Attributions:"See, the ship in the bay is riding"The PoetGripus

Appendix 1: Wordsworth and Hazlitt on the Origins of Greek MythologyAppendix 2: The Two Prefaces to EndymionAppendix 3: The Order of Poems in Poems (1817) and Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems (1820) and The Publisher's Advertisement for 1820Appendix 4: Keats's Notes on Milton's Paradise LostAppendix 5: Keats on Kean's Shakespearean ActingAppendix 6: Selection of Keats's Letters

NotesDictionary of Classical NamesIndex of TitlesIndex of First Lines

From Our Editors

In light of modern poetry, Romantic poetry often seems naive and trite - or so many analysts would have readers believe. While many Romantics have been undercut by this searing criticism, John Keats' work has stood up to this barrage. Now readers get a chance to evaluate all of the British poet's work, along with useful commentaries and helpful notes on societal influences. John Keats: The Complete Poems also includes hard-to-find essays, such as the author's notes for Paradise Lost, and a review of actor Edmund Kean's abilities. This invaluable book affords both insight into Keats' art, but also into the era in which he lived.